Volume. 4: Chapter 5: Ice Dungeon.
Chapter 5: Ice Dungeon.
*Erika’s POV*
I woke up with the feeling that someone was snuggling with me. And that feeling turned out to be real, and not something I dreamed up. The cute fox woman, that is my companion, was hugging me quite tightly.
Maybe she was tired when she made it back here? Probably. Otherwise, she would have woken me up.
Though she did look quite cute while sleeping, she wouldn’t let me go no matter how much I struggled. So I had to wake her up.
Liuka: “Erika? Why didn’t you tell me that you had a tent? This is the best I’ve slept in years! I can’t imagine how much better my sleep would have been if I had a sleeping bag of my own.” Liuka said with a yawn.
Erika: “I’ll lend you a sleeping bag the next time that we sleep. Let’s eat breakfast.” I reply.
I then got out two bowls of ramen for us to eat. It’s best to eat light in the morning. Especially when you have to walk somewhere.
Liuka: “Is that fucking ramen!?” Liuka said with a shocked expression.
Erika: “Yes. But it’s not just any kind of ramen. It’s ramen made by one of my wives, who is very cute and is also an amazing god tier cook.” I say with a proud tone.
Liuka: “God tier? I’ll be the judge of that!” Liuka said with a confident tone.
Well, her confidence quickly faded, and then she just quietly ate her ramen without saying anything more. Though, she did have a smile on her face. I also started to eat my ramen as well.
After breakfast, I put away my sleeping bag and my tent.
Erika: “Did you get that crystal from your group?” I ask.
Liuka: “That I did. I just put it into the fancy new inventory that you gifted me.” Liuka said with a laugh.
Erika: “That’s good. I guess that we should go deal with that one group. And then figure out where the other crystals are at.” I say with a thinking pose.
Liuka: “I’d say that we should leave them for last.” Liuka replied.
Erika: “Why?” I ask.
Liuka: “At least, we know that they have one of the crystals. We should go after the rest. And once we get them all, we’ll deal with that group.” Liuka said.
Erika: “That doesn’t really sound like a good enough reason.” I reply.
Liuka: “And why is that?” Liuka replied.
Erika: “It seems like you are reluctant to visit them. It just makes me even more interested in doing so.” I reply with a smug tone.
Liuka: “…”
Liuka: “Okay… fine! The leader of that group killed my younger brother. I’ve never forgiven him for it. I want him to know that we are after the crystals. And that we will end up at his place eventually.” Liuka answered honestly.
Erika: “Ah, I see. You want your revenge to marinate a bit, huh?” I reply with a giggle.
Liuka: “That’s right. Is that wrong or something?” Liuka asked with a stern tone.
Erika: ”Nope. Well, at least, it isn’t wrong to me.” I reply with a shrug.
Liuka: “Good to know that I am traveling with like-minded company.” Liuka said with a hearty laugh.
Leaving the cave was not fun at all. We just so happen to leave when a blizzard started. Visibility was even worse than before. I could barely see one foot ahead of me…
To not lose Liuka, I asked her to join a party with me. Which she agreed to.
Erika: “Is it usually this bad?” I ask with a curious but loud tone.
The wind was very loud, so we had to speak in loud tones if we wished for the other to actually hear us.
Liuka: “Not usually, no. Heh, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that it’s almost like the world is fighting against you, or something like that.” Liuka answered with a cheeky tone.
Erika: “Don’t jinx it…” I reply with a sigh.
Liuka: “I got some information on some unexplored dungeons. Which one do you want to go to first?” Liuka asked.
Erika: “Why dungeons?” I ask with a head tilt.
Liuka: “Oh, come on! It’s totally going to be game logic! Those stupid crystals are most likely going to be in some stupid unexplored dungeon. Where else would they be hidden?” Liuka said with a sigh.
Erika: “Good point… What are our options?” I ask with a sigh of my own.
Liuka: “Wouldn’t you know it? We have three dungeons to go to in total. Ah, I wonder if these specific number is just a coincidence?” Liuka said with a joking tone.
Erika: “Yes, yes, video game logic. Could you please just tell me our options, and without the sass please?” I ask with a serious tone.
Liuka: “Ah, I could go into the lore of each dungeon, but I’ll just summarize them. Lava dungeon, water dungeon, and surprise, surprise, ice dungeon.” Liuka answered.
Erika: “Let’s go in this order, ice dungeon, lava dungeon, and then finally, water dungeon.” I reply with a thinking pose.
Cold dungeon first since we’re already cold. Then to the lava dungeon to warm up. And finally, to the water dungeon to cool us off.
Liuka: “Huh… that’s odd.” Liuka said with a confused tone.
Erika: “What is?” I ask.
Liuka: “That’s the order that I was going to suggest. I was actually already leading us to the ice dungeon.” Liuka replied.
Erika: “Oh well, great minds do think alike.” I reply with a shrug.
Liuka: “So it seems…” Liuka
It took us around three hours in the blistering cold to… actually, I had remembered shortly after we talked about our destination that I could just use fire magic to keep us warm.
Liuka said that doing so would be a waste of Mana. But then I reminded her just how much of it I actually have. With my reminder, she recalled how much Mana I have, and then didn’t complain anymore.
Look, I had a shit ton of Mana. So I could waste as much as I wanted to. And I would still have more than enough to fight at any time. With so much Mana, is having a fireball the size of a boulder float around us, that much of a waste? It keeps us warm. I see no problem with it at all.
Oh right, we had made it to the ice dungeon. According to Liuka, the entrance was once open. But when a group tried to enter, and complete the dungeon, but had failed, the entrance was frozen shut.
Liuka: “Actually, I specifically led us to this dungeon first. Since I doubt that we could get into it.” Liuka said with a sigh.
Erika: “Bet.” I reply with a smug expression.
Liuka: “And what would the winner get in this bet?” Liuka asked with a raised eyebrow.
Erika: “I just want to touch your tail, what would you want if you win?” I ask.
Liuka: “Take me with you when you’re finished with this dimension.” Liuka replied.
Erika: “Reroll.” I say after mimicking the sound of a buzzer.
Liuka: “When did this turn into a gacha game? And why should I have to choose something else?” Liuka replied with a slightly angry tone.
Erika: “Didn’t I already agree to take you out of this dimension? That isn’t something that you have to win a bet for me to do for you.” I answer.
Liuka: “Ah, I see… Then, if I win, could you take care of me for the rest of my life?” Liuka asked with a serious tone.
Erika: “Are you trying to seduce me?” I ask with a surprised expression.
Liuka: “No. I just meant, take care of me, and I’ll just freeload.” Liuka replied.
I mean, don’t I already do that for quite a few people? I could tell her that, but she would then have to come up with something else.
Erika: “Alright, deal.” I reply.
Liuka: “Deal! Now then, how are we even going to get into this dungeon?” Liuka said with a thinking pose.
The dungeon entrance was coated in giant ice crystals. I can see why people would think that it would be impossible to enter it when it’s sealed up like this. Not like it would stop me, though.
Erika: “Like this.” I say before punching the ice crystals in the center of them.
Liuka: “…”
The entrance was then completely free of ice. Oddly, rather than shattering, the ice just exploded into bright and small particles. It was actually quite a pretty sight to behold.
Liuka: “Is… is there anything that you can’t do?” Liuka asked with a sigh.
Erika: “I can’t juggle.” I reply with a shrug.
This was a lie. I could actually juggle quite well. Eri wanted me to juggle for her, so I learned how to do it. Liuka doesn’t need to know that, though.
Liuka: “I guess that I lost the bet then.” Liuka said with a sad tone.
Erika: “You might have lost it but, I had already planned to take care of you for the rest of your life. Or, at least, as long as you want me to.” I say.
Liuka: “Why? I haven’t even helped you that much at all. I even tried to get you killed, or at least injured.” Liuka replied with a confused expression and tone.
Erika: “Call me crazy, but I long since decided that my goal in life is to make girls happy. Regardless of rather or not they’re my lovers. Oh, I am not saying this to seduce you. There are already quite a few women who are living with me who are not my lovers.” I reply with a serious tone.
Liuka: “What an interesting goal… I do think that it would be foolish to try to understand you anymore.” Liuka replied with a sigh.
Erika: “You know, pretty much everyone I have met has said something similar, after having been around me for a certain amount of time.” I say with a small giggle and one of my hands on my hip.
Liuka: “I can see why… Anyway, let’s get this stupid dungeon over with it.” Liuka replied before walking into the dungeon.
Erika: “Over with? We haven’t even started it, though?” I cheekily say.
Liuka: “…”
Erika: “Oh? The silent treatment? Ah, seeing you pout just makes you even cuter in my eyes.” I say with a laugh.
Liuka: “You must be a hit with girls.” Liuka said with a fed-up tone.
Erika: “Well, I am married to over ten women, so I’d say that statement is correct to some degree.” I reply with a smug tone.
Liuka: “Oh wow! It’s like the more I talk to you, the less sane I get.” Liuka jokingly said.
We continued to banter like that for a while. We had to stop talking after exploring the dungeon for a bit, since monsters came out to kill us.
Ice wolves, ice giants, ice… slimes? All ice themed. And by ice giants, and ice wolves, I meant that they were literally made out of ice. The slimes were still squishy, though. And said slimes were just a pure white color.
None of them ended up dropping any Monster Cores… According to the System, they had no drops. It seems like this might become a theme…
Dammit… killing something and getting some magical bullshit item out of it, truly justifies the whole exchange. It’s no different than just killing people. Sure, I could still steal their shit in the end but, it’s just different from getting a monster drop. I asked Liuka about this.
Liuka: “Yeah, I was annoyed by this as well. Dungeon monsters don’t drop anything. Only monsters that leave the dungeon do. Since the dungeon was the one that created them. It’s different from a game in that sense. There aren’t any items to plunder in a dungeon. The only real reason that people bother to deal with them, is to stop monsters from coming out of them.” Liuka explained.
Erika: “That irks me. Though, it does make sense. These monsters are pretty stupid, and they don’t act like actual living beings.” I reply with a sigh.
Liuka: “That’s right. They do just act like mindless drones until they actually leave the dungeon.” Liuka replied.
Erika: “If dungeons don’t have anything in them, why would the crystals that we need be in them?” I ask with a curious tone.
Liuka: “I don’t know about that other group, but my tribe found the crystal in a dungeon. It wasn’t the core but, the dungeon boss was guarding it.” Liuka answered.
Erika: “Well, that’s a good enough reason as any to explore them.” I reply.
Thus, we continued to explore this dungeon. This ice dungeon, well, it was ice-themed. There were quite a few ice-themed puzzles as well. Such as one where we had to move a block of ice. But it only moved forward, back, left, and finally right.
Liuka was irked that I was basically doing all of the work, so she suggested that she should complete the puzzles. Which, is completely fine, though I won’t tell her this, the dungeon was absolutely trying to prevent us from completing it.
She couldn’t solve the ice block puzzle. So did it for her. How? I just used magic to guide the ice block into place, thus opening the door. Liuka was fuming at how I did the puzzle. Saying that I cheated.
Erika: “It isn’t cheating. This is a fantasy dimension, someone could come along who could use the same magic that I just used, and complete this puzzle.” I say to the cute fuming fox girl.
Liuka: “Whatever! The next puzzle is mine, you can’t help me with it!” Liuka said with a fed-up tone before continuing further into the dungeon.
My companion was clearly absent-minded, most likely because she had nothing to do while I just kill every monster that shows up. She tried to help in the beginning but, she quickly gave that up since I could kill them way faster than she could.
Since she had nothing better to do, other than gaze at the various ice walls, I handed her a bag of candy to eat. To which she just quietly ate. For a while… After, like ten minutes, she got angry and said:
Liuka: “What am I? A child!?” Liuka yelled after the bag of candy at my back.
She aimed for my back but, I ended up turning around quickly and catching it. Which clearly upset her further.
Erika: “Can adults not like candy? I fail to see your logic here.” I reply with a raised eyebrow.
Liuka: “That’s not what I meant… I haven’t done a single thing this whole time…” Liuka said with a sad tone.
Erika: “It’s fine. You’ve had a hard time up until now. Just get on the free ride that is me.” I reply with a giggle.
Liuka: “Fine… but the next puzzle is absolutely mine.” Liuka said with a pout.
Though, after saying that, she ran up to me and snatched the bag of candy back. Look… if you still wanted it, why throw it at me, before grabbing it back? Ah, girls sure are interesting.
Liuka went back to quietly eating the candy, only ever speaking when she ran out, to which I just gave her another bag. Meanwhile, I just continued to kill any monster that showed up to kill us.
Huh? Why do I have premade bags of candy? Well, I’ll tell you that I didn’t just buy them like that. The bags of candy were made completely by me. Honestly, it was quite annoying having to constantly make more of them.
Original, I only made them for my children, but my wives also took a liking to them. As such, I ended having to give them all new bags of my candy every few days.
This was a little too much for me to constantly do, so I had a candy factory made. It made the most premium candy ever produced. At the same level that I can make. Of course, I was operating at a loss. But it made my family happy, so I wasn’t really losing out on anything besides money. Of which I had too much money…
Ah, sidetracked once again… Back to the monsters, maybe they wanted to eat us? Can uh… ice monsters even eat? I guess that the slime could. Why am I even thinking about this?…
This went on for an hour, until we came to another puzzle. The door forward was closed, and above it was a stone eye, with the pupil being an ice crystal. The solution to this puzzle was very obvious, and Liuka figured it out as well.
Problem is, nothing she shot at the crystal eye did anything. Magic didn’t do anything, and neither did the rocks that she threw at it. The goal was clearly to smash the crystal, but it seems like it required a bow and arrow to finish the job.
Liuka: “I really, really don’t want to ask for you to complete this puzzle…” Liuka said.
Erika: “But?” I ask with a knowing tone.
Liuka: “Please just help me. The game was rigged! I’ll do the next puzzle for sure!” Liuka declared.
With her asking me for help, I took out a handgun from my inventory, and then shot the crystal. It shattered completely, and then the door opened for us to continue on our way.
Erika: “Now, this, is cheating.” I say with a smug tone.
Liuka: “…”
Liuka: “Could you give me a gun? I feel like shooting the monsters that come along, would be more entertaining than just eating candy and watching you kill them.” Liuka said with a thinking pose.
Erika: “Have you used a firearm before?” I ask with a serious tone.
Liuka: “Yes. I was in a black ops group in my first life.” Liuka replied.
Erika: “And you got hit by a truck and died?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.
Liuka: “I lied about that. I was killed in the line of duty. Or more accurately, the leader of our group had me killed.” Liuka said with a shrug.
Erika: “Really? That’s crazy. I was also in a black ops group, and my leader had me killed as well.” I say with a surprised tone.
Liuka: “Huh, really? What was your name in your past life?” Liuka asked with a serious tone.
Erika: “My name was Lilith, as for my codename in my group, I was called Alpha.” I replied.
Liuka: “What the fuck!? We weren’t in the same unit but, I knew of you. And Leader was the one who commanded my group as well.” Liuka replied with a shocked tone.
Erika: “You know, I met Sara a while back. She told me that she had killed Leader. So don’t worry about getting revenge, she did that for us. What I’m curious about, is why Leader had you killed.” I say with a curious tone.
Liuka: “Really? Did Sara die and reincarnate like us? As for why he had me killed, he was just a petty asshole, and like you, I didn’t give him even a tiny grain of respect.” Liuka replied.
Erika: “Sara didn’t die, she was forcefully recruited into a group called the Saviors, to which she traveled to different dimensions on their behalf. Don’t worry, she has already broken off her ties to that group, and is now with my group.” I answer.
Liuka: “I see. It’s good to know that she didn’t die. By the way, isn’t it really fucking weird how you ended up finding us?” Liuka asked with a curious tone.
Erika: “It is. I’m guessing the universe is just fucking with me or something. Well, I won’t deny having another powerful ally to add to my group.” I reply with a shrug.
Liuka: “True. I can’t believe that I am exploring a dungeon with the legendary Alpha… You know, people miss you.” Liuka said.
Erika: “Miss me? I hardly knew anyone in that life besides Sara.” I say with a thinking pose.
Liuka: “Ah, by people, I meant the government. After Leader had you killed, he got his ass handed to him by the government. Somehow, he still was allowed to continue commanding various units, including mine. But at least, he was on their shit list.” Liuka answered.
Erika: “I know that I did the impossible many times, but would the government really be that pissed off that I was killed? I pretty much did whatever the hell that I wanted to do.” I said.
Liuka: “It’s true that you basically didn’t listen to orders at all, but you do realize that you stopped World War III, like fifty times over, right?” Liuka said with a raised eyebrow.
Erika: “I did?” I ask with a head tilt.
Liuka: “Hell, with you gone, the world was on the brink of WWIII. It wouldn’t surprise me if our original dimension is currently a nuclear wasteland.” Liuka said with a laugh.
Erika: “That doesn’t sound that funny.” I reply with a giggle.
Liuka: “It’s my opinion that the reason why you’re having such an easy time in this life, is because of all of the good you did in your previous life.” Liuka said with a serious tone.
Good? All I did was kill a bunch of bad people…
Erika: “Who knows? I have definitely been living an amazing and fulfilling life so far.” I reply with a smile before handing Liuka my handgun.
How long was this fucking dungeon? After that little talk we had, we explored for another five hours. Was there no end to this damn place? Fuck… it’s going to be a bitch to get out of this place…
Liuka: “Dungeons are usually quite long. Let’s take a break.” Liuka said.
Erika: “Right. But let’s get to a puzzle first.” I reply.
Liuka: “Why? It isn’t lost on me that my taking so long to complete each puzzle, has ended up with us taking longer in the dungeon.” Liuka said with a sigh.
Sure, it did take her a while to complete each puzzle, and I could easily do them in seconds, but I don’t want her to lose confidence in herself. Something like that is similar to a bottomless pit. I should know, I fell into it once before.
Erika: “It’s not that. You clearly enjoy doing puzzles. Who am I to stop a cute girl from doing something they like?” I reply.
Liuka: “Then why?” She asked with a confused tone.
Erika: “Monsters never show up in puzzle rooms. I’ll get out a tent from my inventory, then we can eat before going to sleep for a while.” I reply.
Liuka: “Oh? That sounds nice. Now we just have to find one.” Liuka replied.
The funny thing was that we found another puzzle room a few moments later. We didn’t bother to solve the puzzle yet. I just took out my tent, and two sleeping bags with it.
Erika: “What do you want to eat? There is a decently high chance that I have whatever kind of meal that you want to eat, in my inventory.” I ask.
Liuka: “Spaghetti? Not meatballs, the spaghetti I’m talking about is just like pasta and small meat chunks.” Liuka said after thinking for a bit.
Erika: “I have it in my inventory. Spaghetti with big meatballs, and spaghetti that is just with small meat chunks. I prefer the small meat chunks personally.” I reply.
Liuka: “Awesome! I haven’t had spaghetti ever since I went into the military. And they don’t have a meal like it in this dimension.” Liuka said with an excited tone.
Erika: “Ah, I just dread the memory of when I had to eat MREs…” I say with a shudder.
Liuka: “Don’t remind me of them… Some of those MREs taste worse than the food that you can get here… Anyway, don’t leave me hanging, bring out the spaghetti!” Liuka said with a pout.
Erika: “Alright, alright, I’m hungry as well.” I reply with a laugh.
As expected from the food that Nadia had made for me. This is the best damn spaghetti I have ever tasted. If food could give you sexual pleasure, it would be the food that Nadia makes. I am definitely feeling some type of way, if you know what I mean…
Huh? Get your mind out of the gutter! I mean that I am feeling full and refreshed after eating Nadia’s food. No. I didn’t scam you at all. This is slander!
Liuka asked for thirds, which I didn’t mind. I gave her another helping. What’s that? What happened to your character trait of eating a lot of food? Ah, Nadia, my oh so wonderful wife, separated the food.
On top of the normal separation that I mentioned before, she had separate meals for me, and for the people that she knew that I would end up feeding.
The meals made for me were five times the size of the meals for other people. The thing is, I still ate two servings. My eating a lot of food trait still exists, don’t worry. Even better, though I did say that my meals were bigger, the meals for me look the same as the other meals.
Somehow, probably abusing her power, Nadia packed more food in the same size meal. Like, if you took one small bite of my food, you would feel like you have just eaten five meals in that one small ass bite. Crazy, right?
After we finished eating, Liuka said that instead of a sleeping bag, she would prefer a bed. She said this, most likely completely as a joke. Since, when I put away the sleeping bags, and took out an entire bed, she had a shocked expression on her face.
Liuka: “I was joking!” She exclaimed.
Erika: “I know.” I replied.
Liuka: “You expect me to get into the same bed as you, huh? You womanizer!” She yelled.
Erika: “I have over ten different, extremely beautiful wives. Do you think that they don’t satisfy me in various ways? I won’t touch you. Even if you did have feelings for me, I don’t progress to doing anything sexual with a person until we are together for life.” I say with a serious tone.
Liuka: “Fine… you aren’t lying.” Liuka said with a sigh.
Erika: “Plus, this bed is fucking huge! Fifteen people around our size could easily and comfortably sleep on it.” I say with a smug tone.
Liuka: “That they could.” Liuka said.
Erika: “Do you want a nightgown?” I ask.
Liuka: “Is there anything you DON’T keep in your inventory?” Liuka asked with a deadpan tone.
Erika: “People?” I say with a head tilt.
Liuka: “Just… just give me the damn nightgown.” Liuka said with a fed-up tone.
Erika: “Sure, here. I’ll wait outside until you finish changing.” I say after giving her the nightgown.
Liuka: “We aren’t children, and I doubt that a nude woman isn’t something you haven’t seen many times before.” Liuka said with a smug tone before stripping.
Even though she clearly didn’t mind me seeing her naked, I still turned around so I wouldn’t see her. I mean, the first time I saw her in her human form, she was completely nude. And didn’t seem to mind me seeing her like that. But even so, we aren’t together, so I don’t think that I should see her naked.
Liuka changed quickly and, without anything else to do, we both got into bed. Of course, before doing so, I put on my nightgown as well. I was pretty tired, so I fell asleep quite fast. Ah, I how I do not miss how battle hardened I once was.
These days, I am able to go to sleep very easily. I can fall asleep quicker if I have one of my wives or daughters sleeping with me. What a drastic change indeed!
*Many hours later.*
When I woke up, I felt like something, or someone, was biting my neck. It was Liuka. Her arms were warped around me, and her face was on my neck. She was still asleep and, through her biting me, I could see that she had a smile on her face. Looking at my System, we both slept for ten hours. Longer than I usually sleep, but we did do a lot yesterday.
It’s not like her biting me hurts. It doesn’t hurt at all, it’s just that, you know, it’s sorta arousing… Sofiel and Alice weren’t the only ones of my wives that likes to bite me…Anyway, because of that, I shook Liuka awake.
When she woke up, she was extremely embarrassed when she realized that she had been biting my neck. Most likely all night. Was this the real reason why she didn’t want to sleep in the same bed as me?
Even if we slept in sleeping bags, she would have probably done the same thing. She didn’t do it last time, but we didn’t know each that well at that time.
Erika: “Good morning. Thanks for the neck massage.” I jokingly say.
Liuka: “Please don’t ever bring this up again! I didn’t bite you in a sexual manner. You know how dogs like biting on things? It’s just like that. I had a dream where I was eating that spaghetti from yesterday…” Liuka explained with an embarrassed tone.
Erika: “Oh, so you were just teething in your sleep? That’s kinda cute.” I say with a thinking pose.
Liuka: “…”
Liuka: “Anyway… what are we having for breakfast? Ramen again?” Liuka asked after getting up from the bed and changing back into the dress that I gave her.
I also got up and put back on my standard loadout.
Erika: “We could eat ramen again, but what do you want to eat?” I ask.
Liuka: “Spaghetti?” Liuka said while not being able to look me in the eyes.
Spaghetti? As your breakfast? Spaghetti is messy regardless of how carefully you try to eat it. Although I didn’t mention it before, does she not remember all of the times that I had used cleaning magic on her and myself yesterday?
Liuka: “Please! You won’t have to use cleaning magic on me.” Liuka pleaded.
Erika: “And have you go through the rest of the dungeon with spaghetti stains on your face and clothes?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.
Liuka: “Erika, I will give you all that I own, if you just let me eat that spaghetti just one more time!” Liuka exclaimed.
Erika: “Wow, no need to go that far. But you know, everything that Nadia made for me is extremely tasty. I’m sure that there is another meal that you would also like.” I say with one of my hands on my hip.
Liuka: “Can… can I try something else first, and if I like the spaghetti more, just switch to that? Fuck… I sound like a child.” Liuka said with a sigh.
Erika: “Like a child? Not with that last comment. But, sure. What would you like to eat, besides spaghetti, that is.” I ask.
Liuka: “Funny… I’m going to go out on a limb here, do you happen to have BBQ chicken with chicken rice stored in your inventory?” Liuka asked.
Erika: “I do.” I reply.
Liuka: “Fuck… I wish I could live such a pampered life as you do…” Liuka said while rubbing her head.
Erika: “Once we’re done with this dimension, you will live as pampered as you want. Our home base is a modern dimension. Of which I basically completely control. You won’t even have to lift a finger at all since, as many maids as you want will be assigned to serve you. I only ask one thing from you.” I exclaim.
Liuka: “That sounds good… but what is it?” Liuka asked with a nervous tone.
Erika: “Treat my wives, and my children well. That’s all I ask.” I reply with a smile.
Liuka: “That’s easy! I can do that in my sleep.” Liuka said with a laugh.
Erika: “Oh? Are you sure that you won’t bite them instead?” I jokingly say.
Liuka: “I said to forget about that! Fuck… we need to finish this dungeon. We need to take a break. Once we’re done here, we should head a dungeon city.” Liuka said with a sigh.
Erika: “Sure. I don’t mind. What about our breakfast?” I ask.
Liuka: “Of course, we eat first!” Liuka exclaimed.
Luckily, the BBQ chicken and chicken rice suited Liuka’s taste quite well, and she didn’t ask to have spaghetti instead. Like yesterday, she asked for seconds and thirds. To which she was given. Cute girls should always be spoiled, you know.
Erika: “Alright, let’s finish up this dungeon. I can feel that we are at the end already.” I say.
Liuka: “Really? I guess that’s just a feeling you have. But I’m just going to go with your gut feeling.” Liuka replied.
Erika: “A wise decision indeed.” I reply with a giggle.
Liuka: “Were you always this cheeky?” Liuka asked with a curious tone.
Erika: “Always? No. Before I met my wives, I was practically an unfeeling robot. So blame them.” I reply with a shrug.
Liuka: “I see, that makes sense. It would be hard to imagine that you were like this while in the military.” Liuka said with a small laugh.
After that, I put away everything that I took out of my inventory. The puzzle this time was extremely funny. It was basically saying, “Please don’t finish this puzzle!” or something like that.
Why? Because there was no fucking puzzle at all. Nothing. Not even a door to go through. It was like the dungeon was telling us to fuck off, and wouldn’t let us pass.
Not going to give me a way forward? Fine then. I’ll just do it myself. Walking up to the wall, where the door normally would be, I punched the wall. And then a hallway appeared behind the rubble.
Liuka and I continued forward into the dungeon. And we came to a huge open room.
Erika: “Boss room?” I ask while looking at Liuka.
Liuka: “Boss room.” Liuka replied with a deadpan tone.
Except, there was no fucking boss at all!
Liuka: “Oh? Over there in that treasure pile, that’s one of the crystals!” Liuka said with an excited tone.
Erika: “So they really are located in dungeons… That sorta irks me. But, where is the boss?” I ask with a confused tone.
Liuka: “Isn’t it that ice slime hiding behind the treasure pile?” Liuka replied while pointing at the treasure pile.
Oh shit… there really was an ice slime. I didn’t even notice it… It basically has no presence at all. How sad…
Oddly, the small thing came out from behind the treasure pile. And then it spoke to us.
???: “P-please don’t kill me! Take all of the treasure you want!” The slime yelled.
Liuka: “Sure. We’re just here for the crystal anyway.” Liuka replied before walking up to the treasure pile and grabbing the crystal.
???: “R-really?” The slime asked with a stutter.
Erika: “Really.” I reply.
???: “Oh, that’s just great! If you go over to the light to the left of the treasure pile, it will take you to the entrance of the dungeon.” The slime explained.
Liuka: “Awesome! It would have been so annoying to have to make our way out of here on foot.” Liuka exclaimed.
Erika: “It truly would. I was already dreading it.” I say with a laugh.
None of the treasures caught me or Liuka’s eye. So we decided to wave the sad excuse for a dungeon boss goodbye. After stepping into the light, we soon appeared at the entrance to the dungeon.
Honestly, I was half expecting that slime to trick us. I am glad to be wrong in this case. No wonder the dungeon was sealed. The dungeon master was a scared ice slime. How tragic…
Liuka: “I’ll take us to a dungeon city now.” Liuka said.
Erika: “Okay. I am curious about how such a place would look like.” I replied.
Liuka: “Didn’t you commit a slaughter in one already? Though, that place was very run down. The city that we are going to is very advanced.” Liuka replied.
Erika: “Slaughter aside, I am looking forward to seeing it… Holy shit!” I yell.
Liuka: “What!?” Liuka asked with a shocked tone.
Erika: “I just realized that I never got to touch your tail, even though I won that bet that I basically rigged!” I exclaim with a sad tone.
Liuka: “…”
Erika: “Can I get my prize now?” I ask with an excited tone.
Liuka: “Erika, since you don’t know, I’ll explain it to you. I forgot that you aren’t from this dimension, and probably haven’t met many demihumans before. Now, at least for us foxkin, asking to touch our ears or tails, is on the same level as asking to touch our breasts.” Liuka explained with a serious tone.
Erika: “Really? Then I am sorry for sexually harassing you. That wasn’t my intention.” I reply with a remorseful tone.
Liuka: “It’s fine, you weren’t aware. Come on, let’s go to that city. Oh, before you ask, it doesn’t have a name.” Liuka said with a laugh.
Erika: “Why not?” I ask with a curious tone.
Liuka: “Spite, maybe? It’s an unspoken rule to not name any dungeon city.” Liuka replied.
Erika: “That brings up more questions than it answers.” I say with a laugh.
Liuka: “That it does. And I don’t have the answers to those questions at all. Now let’s go, my oh so portable heater, Erika.” Liuka jokingly said.
Once more into the stupid frozen outside world. Luckily, this time it wasn’t a blizzard. Liuka had taught me how to walk in the snow without falling into it. I learned quickly, as you would expect from me.
I guess that’s how people get around without snow shoes in this dimension. Well, whatever, according to Liuka, we have a long walk ahead of us. What fun…